Delightfully Tacky

Apologies for the blog absence! Let me tell you, being in the hot, humid south and driving for 7 hours a day does not make for a blogging mood. On my trek across the gulf coast, I pretty much wore the same sweaty, nasty skirt and t-shirt on... maybe three days in a row? Hah, super cute, I know. I wasn't going to bother making another shirt nasty and gross though, so I just wore the same one. So anyway, since I was gross and didn't take pictures of my gross 3-day outfit, here's another outfit from the shoot I did for 61 North Magazine!

The gulf coast was very interesting. I've never spent any time in the deep south, and just the geography alone was amazing. I mean, I've driven all over the rest of the country (the west/southwest/south on this trip and the north/midwest/northeast on our family trip in '07) and so I know how diverse the land is, but I never really realized that the deep south is basically wetlands! I guess listening to Creedence for as long as I have, I should've known. "Born on the Bayou"- come on! Frankly, the deep south is not my favorite part of the country. It's hot, humid, marshy... I just would never choose to live there of my own volition. Perhaps I'm just not a southern girl. Or an east coast girl either, for that matter. I could see myself living pretty much anywhere on the west half of the nation, even the middle states (not Oklahoma though. So much wind! Random fact about me: I really really dislike wind. Not sure why).

I don't think Little Bit liked the south either. I'm pretty sure she's never experienced a climate like that in her life. She's never left Alaska before this trip! She's very much used to cold weather. The whole time we were driving in the deep south she was panting and looking very hot. I kept trying to make her drink water! Poor pup. She's probably not a southern girl either, haha!

So, I ended up having to go quickly across the south anyway in order to get to Austin to see my friend Cassie before she left for Thanksgiving. It was awesome to see her, since I haven't seen her since I graduated college. I also got to see a couple other people from college (including one of my old roommates!) which was lovely. It was great to see Cassie's little apartment and we biked around a bit of Austin, got drinks, and ate out of a food truck (which is apparently "the thing" to do in Austin nowadays). Lots of fun! I love Austin, but I think the heat might be a deal breaker for me ever being able to live here. It was 85 on Wednesday... I was sweltering, and it's November! I don't even want to know what August is like. I hear it's akin to Hell, or something of the sort.

Cassie left to spend Thanksgiving with her family in Dallas on Thursday morning and I headed over to Indiana's house to spend my Thanksgiving meeting a blog friend! It was awesome when Indiana tweeted inviting anyone over for Thanksgiving because I knew that my friend would be out of town for Thanksgiving and I had nowhere to go. Such a perfect situation! Indiana and I chatted all afternoon while she cooked stuff for dinner and then a whole bunch of people came over for the feast- so many new people to meet! Plus, I got to meet Indiana's new little one, Jude!

Little Bit made friends with Indiana's new rug. LB Camouflage!

I made friends with Indiana's new pup, June! She was the sweetest little dog, so soft and cuddly. When I was younger I wanted a Dachshund, and I think little June may have made me want one again!

I am thankful for so very much this year. I mean, the past year and a half have felt like three years- so much growth and stuff happening! I'm really glad I am where I am and I'm doing what I'm doing and going where I'm going. Plus, the blog has just been an incredible blessing in my life. I've met so many wonderful people through this little internet portal- some of whom I've been lucky enough to meet up with on this trip. I must say, I'm also incredibly thankful for the Brave and how perfectly it's performed on this trip. It runs like an energizer bunny, just keeps going and going. And then, of course, my amazing family who have been so supportive of this whole trip. It's nice to have that support system, even though I'm physically thousands of miles from them. And then all of you! You guys are so incredible. I can't tell you how blessed I am to have you guys cheering me on and supporting me through this blog. Some of you have even donated funds to the Brave's constantly thirsty gas tank! Thank you so much! I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to have people out there supporting you like that. Amazing! There's so much more I'm thankful for, but I'm kind of rambling, so here... look at how cute June is!